BATTLE
by Strife in the Goat
Summary: From noob to veteran, this story details the path of beginner James as he enters the competitive world of Starcraft.
1. Prologue

**[PROLOGUE]**

"Good luck, have fun."

"You too."

The familiar _whoosh_ rolled into his ears as the screen momentarily turned black. The oddly mystifying backdrop appeared in a flash, vanishing just as quickly with the click of a button. A wave of anxiety flowed through James.

* * *

"So, who's he up against this time?"

Lee entered the computer room, a soda in his hand. As lanky as he was tall, Lee's long limbs allowed him to quickly cover the distance between him and an open seat. He rolled his chair over to the central table, watching the large monitor.

"Bassfreak," replied Michael, the reflection of the screen glowing on his glasses. "I haven't seen his records or replays yet, so I don't know what kind of plays he'll use."

"Well, it'll keep the suspense up," said Lee, taking a sip of soda. "Anyways, I think James will do fine. He's almost as good as us now. At least, in Fastest anyways."

"Fastest or slow money, each requires skill to play," said Michael. "You know that."

"Yeah, yeah. I get it. I'll shut up."

"No, don't. I want you to analyze this with me."

"Always on the job, aren't you?"

"There's no point in being an observer if you're not going to watch," said Michael, putting a hand to his chin.

"Exactly. _Watch._ Not analyze."

"To me, that's one and the same."

"Tightwad. Ah, they're starting to make their first moves."

Michael's hands moved in practiced sweeps. The mouse cursor flashed around the screen, clicking on an area that was unaffected by the fog of war.

"Bassfreak is Protoss too," said Lee, watching the probes mine minerals. "He's building pretty fast. Already has double nexuses up."

"I see it," said Michael. It was an all too familiar strategy. Build a probe with the beginning 50 minerals as the rest began to mine resources. As soon as your second probe was built, build a pylon and continue mining. The two nexuses came at a slight cost in economy and time. Each cost 400 minerals, which destroyed any chances of an early zealot rush. Therefore, the player would be forced to build cannons to defend his base.

"James is building zealots," noted Lee. "Goddamn it, go scout!"

"The cannons are already going up. There's no chance of a rush right now," said Michael. His hands began to fidget. James wasn't at a level yet where he could efficiently destroy the opponent's economy while straying away from the cannons with micromanagement. And Bassfreak was slowly closing the gaps in his defense with more cannons in the back. His economy would continue to boom throughout the game, because of the additional probes being pumped from his nexuses.

"He's teching up at last!" said Lee, a slight quiver in his voice. "Christ, this kid takes a long time to get around."

"He's lucky the opponent chose to go economy," said Michael. "Íf he'd been rushed, James would've been steamrolled."

"Gas is up. For both of them."

"But Bassfreak has more assimilators." Assimilators were essential towards the latter part of the game. While minerals provided the "cash" to build initial buildings and units, the vespene gas collected from Protoss assimilators would allow the players to advance higher up the tech tree and build more advanced units.

"That's bad. Bassfreak only has a couple of units, but with the extra gas, he'll be able to upgrade quickly." With upgrades, each unit could get progressively stronger (up to 3 levels). By the third level, a group of even the weakest units could wreak havoc in someone's base.

"James is attacking!"

"What?" Michael returned the monitor to James's base. Sure enough, the army of zealots that had slowly built up in his base had started marching off across the map. Michael was surprised that James would take such a risk. Not that it was a bad move; in fact, with Bassfreak being in the middle of production, it was coincidentally the perfect time to do some damage. But Michael had always seen James lose a golden opportunity because of his passive character. He tended to fear his opponent and would choose to take refuge in his base, only to be destroyed by a sneak attack from the back or through superior brute force from the front.

"He's actually making a good move for once," said Lee in mock astonishment. "Impressive."

"Yes. He's improved," said Michael. _But can you keep on this track, James? Can you win this battle?_

* * *

The growls from the zealots rang from his headphones. James quickly maneuvered them to his enemy's choke. His scout had died earlier, but not without destroying a probe or two. However, looking at the double nexuses, he doubted that his opponent would miss them. What probably worried Bassfreak more would be that James had found him. Bassfreak had precious few units, as he had concentrated mostly on teching fast. It was a mistake James had come across many times, but Bassfreak had a stable economy to support his endeavors. At the moment, he would be pumping units from his gateways. His vast store of resources would ensure that his army would outnumber James's in no time.

_I have to hurry_, thought James. He picked three zealots from his group and sent them into Bassfreak's base. He strayed away from the protruding gateways, knowing that the fog of war would illuminate his units if they came too close. Instead, James cut to the side, where darkness covered him, and quickly made his way to the top. Imagining the fog of war's range, James allowed the zealots to attack an assimilator.

Bassfreak responded just as James expected him to.

The cannons were built in front of his primary nexus, their range covering the back of his base and his first few gateways. Unfortunately, the assimilator was quite a distance from the cannons which allowed James's zealots to attack unmolested. James smirked as Bassfreak sent a group of zealots and dragoons to attack his force. There were four zealots and three dragoons, upgraded to level 2. It seemed that Bassfreak had yet to finish building his army. But to his credit, Bassfreak had increased the dragoon's attack range, allowing them to attack the zealots from a distance. In a couple seconds, James's zealots were annihilated.

It was then that James's main army began attacking Bassfreak's pylons.

"What the hell?!" thought Bassfreak as he saw dozens of zealots enter his base. "Shit!"

James divided his zealots into two groups; one would attack Bassfreak's units and pylons while the others would destroy his cannons and move towards his economy. The zealots moved at an amazing pace, their movement speed having been upgraded earlier on. Because of their small stature, James was able to weave through Bassfreak's gateways, keeping out of the dragoons' range.

"Just a little more," thought James as the cannons exploded one by one. "Just a little more..."

James froze. Suddenly, Bassfreak's units had multiplied. It seemed his army had finally arrived.

"Shit!" thought James, as he destroyed the last cannon. He had spent too much time on the defenses. At this rate, his entire army would be obliterated. James directed his zealots to attack the probes, chipping away at Bassfreak's economy as fast as he could.

But Bassfreak was too quick. Before his zealots could finish off the probes, a flurry of antimatter bolts mowed through James's army.

The fog of war covered Bassfreak once again.

_Oh no._

* * *

Bassfreak wiped his forehead. That had been close. If his units had come out a second later, he would've been crippled for the rest of the game. It was a good thing the force had only been composed of zealots.

With the break in battle, Bassfreak began to rebuild his defenses. He doubled the number of cannons around his nexuses, stretching their range down to the middle gateways. As his cannons finished building, a series of roars and beeps signaled that his units had arrived. He now had triple the number of units and all were upgraded to level 3. He was fairly sure that the zealot army had been his enemy's only units. Now was a perfect time to attack.

"Time to get some revenge," thought Bassfreak as he moved his army into the center of the map. Even if his opponent had units, it wouldn't matter. His economy was allowing him to constantly build replacements. His tech had all been upgraded. He had even started on an air fleet. Soon enough, he would max out the map and be undefeatable.

"GG."

Bassfreak sent all his units into James's base. Being on the left middle of the map, James's choke was unnaturally large, which meant that Bassfreak could have his units file in groups rather than a single line. It was as if Starcraft was just waiting for him to win.

A dozen dragoons began firing at Bassfreak's zealots.

"So, you have some fight after all," thought Bassfreak as he moved his dragoons towards James's economy. Their range would allow them to destroy the probes without being in the cannons' line of fire. His zealots moved quickly to the enemy dragoons, slicing through them in a trail of azure slime. In the blink of an eye, James's defenses were blown away.

A group of observers floated into James's base. Even with his enormous army, Bassfreak was taking no chances. A few dark templars could initiate a comeback. After having to rebuild a good part of his base, Bassfreak was keen on getting revenge. He watched hungrily as one by one, James's structures burned to rubble.

_Noob. Thinking he can beat me._

"Our base is under attack."

* * *

"Yeah! That's what I'm talking about!" yelled Lee.

"It's not over. James has half his base gone."

"It's going to be close," admitted Lee soberly. Then he grinned and added," But I bet Bassfreak is freaking out right now."

"Probably," said Michael, smirking. "He didn't even try to defend himself, so he probably never saw it coming."

"Man, to get that far and get owned because you can't multi-task."

"Depressing."

"But hey, it's good for our side."

"Maybe. Maybe."

* * *

It had been an act of desperation. James had expected his forces to put quite a dent to Bassfreak's economy. Although he had destroyed many probes, it hadn't been enough to stop Bassfreak's production. A few quick movements with observers proved that. For a split moment, James had considered sacrificing his economy and going straight for more harassment. However, now that Bassfreak was pumping units, he knew that it'd simply be a waste of resources. Even worse was the fact that Bassfreak's vast surplus was allowing him to recover and produce units all at once.

"What do I do?" thought James. He quickly analyzed the situation. He could try to increase his economy at this moment. However, that would delay production of units. With his observers still in Bassfreak's base, James saw that in mere moments, Bassfreak would attack just to empty out his base. A column of blue warp spheres had been made. If James had to guess, these were surely stargates. Every second he wasted was allowing Bassfreak to close away every single opportunity to counter. He had to act _fast_.

It was then that he saw it. On a whim, James looped his observers over his enemy's dragoons and approached the right side of his base.

_A hole_.

James knew he had no time. It would be a miracle if he could pull this off. He began to mass produce robotic facilities. With his current facilities, he built a fleet of shuttles. He watched Bassfreak's base closely, feeling a sense of relief as Bassfreak chose to rebuild instead of attacking. Expanding his plan, James also began to produce high templars. A probe was sent out to an empty area.

As Bassfreak's base finished its repairs, James began loading up his shuttles. He flew them to the area under Bassfreak's base, one by one. He would continue doing this until Bassfreak made a move. He needed every precious second that could be spared.

Bassfreak began his assault. James couldn't help but feel horrified at the enormous army as it marched towards his base. He stopped production in the facilities and began making dragoons to defend his base. Then, with quick, assertive movements, James flew his shuttle down through the empty space in Bassfreak's base. He unloaded the high templars and positioned them away from the cannons.

Just as Bassfreak sent a second wave towards his base, James stormed Bassfreak's probes. Instantly, a series of explosions signalled the end of Bassfreak's economy. Moving his mouse furiously, James released his force of reavers into Bassfreak's base.

* * *

_FUCK!_ thought Bassfreak as he finally noticed the reavers in his base. His first instinct told him to retreat and destroy the reavers. However, he quickly quelled the thought. By doing that, he would waste precious time. His base would be severely damaged, no matter what he did. But what he could do was ensure that James's base was completely destroyed.

So Bassfreak began producing more units from his gateways, trying to stall as his army slowly demolished James's base. Unfortunately, James's reavers were strategically spread out. The units that came out would waste time attacking random reavers while the reavers' splash damage would ensure that whole groups of dragoons were dispatched in one move.

Furious, Bassfreak tried to produce carriers from his stargates. It was then that he found a group of templars around the destroyed cannons.

_WHAT THE HELL?!_

Stupid, stupid STUPID! He had been too eager. He hadn't been watching his base. How could he have left his entire right side undefended? How could he have let those slow shuttles get into his base? With his economy, all Bassfreak could do now was focus fire on James's structures.

It was then that Bassfreak realized it. This was a bluff. There was no way those reavers could destroy his entire base in time. Bassfreak laughed as he recognized his stupidity. The poor fool only had his tech structures left while he had half his gateways still running. And even as he ran out of resources, Bassfreak saw that there were fewer and fewer reavers with each wave he produced. The noob's destruction would only get slower from here on.

_I've won this. You scared me for a minute, but I've won this, you bastard._

His units began to attack James's final nexus. Blue flames erupted all over the pyramid-like structure. _Any second now..._

The nexus exploded and only rubble remained. Bassfreak whooped gleefully and tore off his headphones. It was all over. The noob had brought up that reckless tactic at the end, but he had still lost. What a fool! Smiling to himself, Bassfreak lazily moved his dragoons around in a victory march. Now all he had to do was wait for the victory message. When it appeared, he could exit the game and add another win to his record.

The message never appeared.

* * *

James watched as Bassfreak's dragoons moved randomly in his base. He smiled to himself as he glanced at the lone pylon he had built at the bottom of the map. No doubt Bassfreak would notice that he had expanded any second now, but it would be too late. His reavers had finally gotten through all the gateways. He had left no nexus or probe intact.

It was a dirty tactic, but James didn't care. As Bassfreak finally realized his mistake and tried to find James's last pylon, James ended the game with one final click. When the victory message appeared on his screen, James felt truly ruthless.

* * *

"God. What the hell happened to James this game?"

"I guess he's gotten over his passiveness," said Michael as the screen blacked out.

"You can say that again. I never expected him to do something like that. I guess we've been underestimating him."

"No. We've been overestimating him."

"C'mon. Even if it was cheap, he still got the win. And Bassfreak's pretty experienced."

"If he was good, he wouldn't have resorted to that," said Michael quietly. "He's still got a long way to go."

"Cut him some slack."

"You think I can do that?" asked Michael, smiling wanly. Lee looked away from his tired eyes.

"You could learn," he mumbled.

"Maybe I will. But not now. Right now, James needs to advance. I have to be ruthless."

"I think he's pretty ruthless enough without your help," said Lee.

"It's not his job to be ruthless. It's mine."

"Selfish bastard, aren't you?"

"No. I'm just obstinate."

* * *

**[PROLOGUE: End]**


	2. Meeting

**[MEETING]**

**

* * *

  
**

The warp sphere completed its task. With a flash of bright blue, a newly made pylon appeared onto the map. You could almost hear the warning bells ringing in the player's ears. When had that probe appeared in his base? What was he planning, putting that pylon in such a remote area?

For the pylon was nowhere near the main hatchery. Isolated in a corner at the top, any cannons built in the pylon's range would only be there for decoration. What could he hit?

But the player miscalculated. Or maybe he had seen the possibility and reacted to slowly. But it was too late. The probe had already begun the cannon's warp.

And it was right behind his expansion.

"Essentially, what's happening here is a superb, ingenious usage of his surroundings. The pylon is built in the corner, where the enemy may first think is a useless position. But we come to see that it is in fact the best position for the pylon. The pylon's range isn't deterred by height. Being in the enemy's base and perched on top of a cliff doesn't matter one bit. What matters is that the pylon is up. This is the essential part of the cannon rush. You must be fast. Here, the enemy only has drones. He couldn't have destroyed the pylon even if he did see it. So he leaves it alone. But if you watch here..."

"H-he he put the uhh..."

"Cannon."

"Yeah! He put the cannon behind the..."

"Minerals."

"Yeah."

"And he finishes by closing entrance to the cannon with another pylon. See how the enemy moves his drones away. Even if he tries to attack with the drones, a good majority of the drones will die. In a slow money game, resources are integral to the player. So all that happens now is the destruction of the Zerg expansion. But note here that the Protoss player is being rightfully cautious. He sends a couple zealots to the cannon, in case some units are able to get through, such as zerglings."

"But what about the other pylon? Won't he...oh see? He's doing it right now."

"Yes, but it's a futile effort. Attacking the pylon in the enemy's base has no purpose now. The initial purpose of the pylon there was to have a power source for the cannon that would be difficult to destroy. At the same time, it provides additional support for the cannon, in case the second pylon was destroyed. However, it work the same both ways. All the Zerg player is doing now is losing units trying to kill a pylon that has no real use anymore."

"Wow. All the zerglings died."

"Yes. Now the Zerg player has wasted a vast amount of resources. He is vulnerable. The Protoss player, however, can build up an army, can choose to harass with his remaining zealots, or even expand and drag the game out."

The screen turned black.

"Now, what have we learned today?"

"Uhh..."

"Zerg sucks," said Lee, snickering.

"No. It doesn't,," said Michael with a disapproving frown. "It was just the skill of the player here that made the battle seem skewed."

"Yeah yeah. Whatever you say."

"But zealots are stronger than zerglings, right?" asked James.

"Yes...in essence..."

"Then, if the Zerg guy had been Protoss, wouldn't he have been able to destroy the pylons faster?"

"Possibly. But, I highly doubt it. The main reason the Zerg player lost here was his early expansion. The tier-1 Zerg unit, the zergling, come from the Spawning Pool. This takes 200 minerals. In contrast, a Protoss player takes 250 minerals to get to his zealots because he needs a pylon and a gateway. To do the cannon rush, the Protoss player also needed another 150 minerals for a Forge. The expansion for the Zerg cost 300 minerals. If you add things up properly, you'll notice that the Zerg used up 500 minerals as opposed to the 400 minerals for the Protoss player. The Zerg player also built several more drones, costing him another 200 minerals. The Protoss player wisely used this amount on the pylons and cannons. The units came later. So, while the Zerg player may have had stronger units as Protoss, because of his foolhardy use of minerals, he would have had less units anyways."

"What?"

"The cannons would still have kicked his ass," summarized Lee.

"Oh, ok."

"Ehem. Anyways, back to the topic. What you have learned today is the proper requirements of a cannon rush. First, speed. Second, a sacrifice of economy, expansion, and or units. Third, proper usage and adaptation of your surrounding elements. And lastly, _defense_. If your cannon dies, it may be hard to recover from the investment you put in."

"I see..." said James absentmindedly.

"You don't have to get it right now," said Lee. "A lot of people don't bother with cannon rushes because of the risks. Scouting is always the best way to see if your opponent's prepared or not."

"That's where..."

"You send a unit out to explore the terrain and search for your enemy," finished Michael.

"Ah, ok."

"Jeez, what are we going to do with you? You're barely hanging onto the basics," said Lee, ruffling James's hair.

"Hey, stop that!"

"Why should I? It's one of the perks of being older."

"You're just one year older!"

"Still older."

"Knock it off, you guys. We have important things to discuss," said Michael, putting away his laptop.

"What? Wasn't this meeting just to have James learn the cannon rush?"

"Partially. But there's a more serious matter at hand."

"Which is...?"

"The fact that we aren't recognized by the Student Council."

"Psh. So what? Why should we care?" sneered Lee.

"If we aren't recognized by the Student Council as a club, we're just an interest group. You know what means."

"Uh..."

"Lee..."

"Look, I don't know educational politics," said Lee.

"James...?"

"Ha. Sorry. This is the first time I joined a club," said James sheepishly.

"You guys..." sighed Michael, putting a hand over his eyes. "If we aren't recognized as a club, we won't get any benefits."

"Benefits?"

"Well, first off, funds. We're working off of just one copy of Starcraft. It was ok when it was just me and Lee in the club, but three people? Spawns just don't give us enough capabilities. Also, we only have one laptop. Even if we did want to use spawns, we can't."

"So? We can play at home," said Lee.

"What's the point of having a Starcraft _Club_, then?" said Michael scathingly.

"So we can goof off after school?"

"No. Even if the Student Council won't admit it, Starcraft has some educational value. Not strictly in the academic sense. But, by playing Starcraft, you begin to think more creatively and develop skills similar to those you get in chess. I mean, if that board game gets funds, why can't we?"

"Chess is for nerds."

"Lee..."

"I'm just saying."

"Point is that if we're recognized as a club, there are a lot more advantages. With those funds, we could actually go to tournaments. Plus, if we become a club, we become far more well-known in the school. We can put things in the announcements. We can pass out flyers. We can solicit!"

"Why do we need more people anyways? I think it's fun just with us here," said Lee.

"I don't."

"I bet there aren't even that many people who play Starcraft here," retorted Lee.

"There are! I've played them. Like Richard Hemming from 2nd Period."

"He sucks."

"So? The point is our school has over 1200 students. Even one percent is twelve Starcraft players."

"What are you getting at?" said Lee, narrowing his eyes.

"Admit it Lee. You and me, we're decent at best. James here is getting pretty good for a first-timer, but he's still weaker than us. But we can't learn like this. We can't get better."

"Who cares? I just play Starcraft for fun."

"You're lying. You want to get better. I can tell. Both of you. Whenever you two play, I see it in your eyes. You guys love it. Finding some way to beat your opponent. Watching him do things you've never seen before. Being your equal. Trying to get stronger, get faster, just to beat someone else. Korea's proven it. Starcraft is an epitome of competitive gaming. You two _want_ competition."

Lee made no reply. He stared at Michael for a moment, his brow furrowed in thought. Then, he turned away and scooped his backpack up.

"So what? Maybe we do like competition. But why do we need more people?" he muttered.

"Because you don't improve like this. Playing around online. Fighting people who are either too strong or too weak. You don't improve. You stay the same. Don't you remember why we made this club, Lee?"

Lee flinched at that comment. He couldn't meet Michael's eye.

"We wanted to spread Starcraft into the school. We wanted to find people in the school who are as good as us. But there's something else. You know what we really wanted to do."

_Don't you get it Michael? These guys, they all suck. They can't play Starcraft for shit._

_So says the guy who loses to everyone on the Ladders._

_So? They're too good. We can't compete against those guys._

_Then find someone weaker._

_They're too weak. All of them. It's like there's only extremes. I can't find anyone at my level._

_So, am I stronger or weaker than you?_

_I'm being serious Michael. I want to play an equal. I want to beat someone who's as good as me. Then I want him to beat me. And we'll keep beating each other until we're better than everyone else._

Lee smiled and shouldered his bag. _That's right. We had to make equals. We couldn't do it alone. So we needed others._

"Alright. I get your point," said Lee exasperatedly. "You're getting melodramatic now."

"Oh, so _now_ you agree with me?"

"Don't rub it in."

Lee leaned back onto a table and put his hands behind his head. "So? What're we gonna do about it?"

Michael smiled and shook his head.

"Not us. _Him_."

James blinked as suddenly, he was thrust back into the conversation by Michael's outstretched finger. _Me?_

"Wh-what? What are you talking about?" stammered James.

"I made a deal with the Student Council," said Michael, rummaging in his bag. "If I can prove to them that Starcraft is a worthwhile game, that it has scholarly merit, then they'll let me form the club."

"What does James have to do with it?" asked Lee.

_Slam!_

"Because all we have to do is prove that James, who's a complete novice in Starcraft, has improved his intellectual abilities."

"Michael...what is that?"

Michael smirked and slid the box towards James.

"This is the game James has to win to prove himself."

"You can't be serious."

"Oh, I am. They've already accepted our challenge. The battle's in two weeks."

Both James and Lee stared open-mouthed at the box. It was a long, rectangular thing, the cardboard material beat-up and worn from what seemed like frequent handling. On the cover of the box was a single word, written in flowing, archaic script.

_Chess_.

* * *

**[MEETING: End]**


	3. Strategy

**[STRATEGY]**

**

* * *

  
**

"It's nice to meet you guys. I hope you'll enjoy your stay here for the next week."

"Thanks a lot," said Michael, shaking the boy's hand.

The Chess Club was drastically different from the Starcraft "Club". Whereas the Starcraft "Club" met mostly in spare classrooms, the Chess Club had an entire room dedicated to their activities. The advisor, an influential and well-liked teacher in the school, had obtained permission to requisite the library. As a result, there was quite a bit of room and many tables for the members.

"Wow. There's so many people in this club," whispered James to Lee. Lee grudgingly agreed. The sight of seeing dozens of members seated next to each other in long rows of tables was pretty impressive. The constant clacking of pieces and slapping of the timer made a rhythmic, almost melodious tune. But what amazed Lee the most were the members themselves. Even if some looked like nerds, with large round glasses and prim haircuts, they all had the same amazing countenance on their face. It was a mixture of intensity and enjoyment, all dancing together in their eyes.

_This is what me and Michael were envisioning,_ thought Lee as the trio passed by the tables. _This is what I want Starcraft to be like in our club. Something that can bring that expression on people's faces._

"I have to say though, this is a bold request. I have never played Starcraft myself, so I don't know how well it can teach the player in maneuver. However, no matter what it might teach, I highly doubt anyone could play chess well enough after just a week to match anyone in this club. Especially someone who's never played chess in their life."

"James is a quick learner," said Michael, although a shadow of doubt flickered in his eyes. Lee rolled his eyes. Don't tell me he didn't think this through.

"Well, if you're sure. By the way, I didn't get your names."

"I'm Michael, President of the future Starcraft Club. This is Lee, future vice. And James, our newest member."

"Nice to meet you, again. I'm Andrew."

"So you're the President, huh?" said Lee, looking at Andrew closely.

"Haha, only in name. I'm not a pro like Hubert, so I don't have much influence as the President here."

"That sucks."

"Not really. I enjoy myself, which is what counts," replied Andrew. He motioned at the three towards a table in the back of the library. "We don't want to disturb any of the other players."

"Maybe it's best if we meet outside of the club next time, then," said Michael.

"We've discussed this. And, I agree with that. However, the chess boards we use are the students' property. A lot of people aren't willing to let someone from a wannabe-club use their chess board. You understand, right?"

"I wouldn't trust anyone with my CD key, either," said Lee. Both James and Michael laughed, but the joke went over Andrew's head.

"CD key?"

"Forget it. Starcraft terminology."

"Alright. Anyways, I do have an extra board at home, so next time we meet, it'll be outside of the Chess Club."

"Sounds good. Shall we get started then?"

Andrew nodded and placed the board on the table. Unlike the one Michael had brought, this one was made of thick wood, with a shining polish on its surface. The pieces weren't cheap plastic, but made of ebony for the black and boxwood for the white. They looked well-taken care of, having little scratches or marks on their surface. As Andrew placed the pieces into rows on the board, James saw soft felt underneath each piece.

"So, James, right?"

"Yeah."

"Ok. This is the set-up for chess. Both sides fill up the two end rows on their side. The top row is made completely of pawns. The second ro–"

"Pawns?"

"Yes. Generally the weakest piece in the game, the pawn is meant to represent "infantry". It's expendable, but can cause great damage to the opponent if used correctly."

"I see..."

"The next row is made of royals. These differ from the pawn with more advanced movements and generally more valuable. Now, there is a point system you can use to evaluate the value of your pieces..."

And so the conversation continued. It took twenty minutes for Andrew to explain the rules of chess to James as detailed as he could. Both Michael and Lee, who were at least familiar with chess, listened with little conviction.

When the lecture was finished, Andrew decided that they'd play a match to measure James's current strength and understanding.

"No, the knight is next to the bishop," said Michael for the third time. James moved the knight one space over and then finished placing his bishop down. The board was set up. Andrew had decided to be black for the game. Giving James the first move would allow him to lead the game in the beginning.

"Are you ready?"

"Yeah...I guess," said James, fiddling with a pawn.

"Then let's begin."

The game started slowly. Andrew noted that while James had a good handle of the pieces and their individual movements, he didn't have true understanding of the pieces' respective potentials. Because of this, what James tended to do was move his pieces randomly, always trying to get his pieces out onto the board. It was only because Andrew resisted taking pieces quickly that James wasn't completely demolished in the first few minutes.

"This isn't good," murmured Michael.

"You're telling me," said Lee under his breath. "He sucks more at this than he does at Starcraft."

"That's not what I meant," said Michael, his hand clamped over his mouth. "I made a horrible mistake..."

"What?"

"Follow me," said Michael, getting up from his seat.

James did not glance at the two as they moved far enough to be out of earshot. Andrew noted that at the very least, James had good concentration.

"What's the problem?" hissed Lee.

"I've played chess for quite a while. I thought James would be able to play after a couple of games since both Starcraft and chess have strategical elements."

"Yeah. So? Isn't that a good thing?"

"It would be if we'd taught James any strategies!" said Michael, gripping his hair fretfully. "Most of the things we taught him were the basic fundamentals for Starcraft. But they don't matter in chess! Macro, micro, teching up, what good is knowing that in this situation?"

"What?! You...Do you know what you're saying?" said Lee sharply. "We can't back out of this now! We already made the deal, we already got James–"

"I know that! If we backed out now, we'd just lower our reputation with the Student Council. Not only would we have nothing of intellectual merit for them, but we'd look unreliable! Everything we'd say after that would be taken too lightly. Our chances of becoming a club would be ruined."

"So what do we do? No, better yet, what _can_ we do?"

"Nothing. We have to go through with this. There's a possibility that James might be able to learn enough in a week. But the problem is that's a real longshot..." said Michael. Wait. What was that just now. Something was wrong. Something about Michael's tone...

"But what if we lose?" said Lee slowly, observing Michael's expression.

"Then that's it. If we go through with it all and lose, we're pretty screwed over. We'll lose the confidence of the Student Council about Starcraft. This won't prove that Starcraft has _no_ intellectual merits, but it'll be a good case that it has _little_ merit. It's not as bad as what'd happen if we withdrew, but it's still pretty bad."

"You gotta be kidding me. Don't you think through your own ideas, Michael?!" said Lee indignantly.

"Sorry! I'm not perfect you know," said Michael, refusing to meet his eye. _No. That's not it._ Lee realized it then. Michael was holding something back. It was that statement that convinced him. Michael, however he might view himself, _was_ perfect. In intellect at least. Not perfect as in he got everything right. No, he could be wrong. But what was part of Michael's character was his way of thinking. He wouldn't accept a solution until he had fully analyzed its repercussions and justified it. There was no way he would've suggested this chess meet if there wasn't something in their favor...

But Lee let it go. If Michael wasn't telling him something, then it meant he wasn't supposed to know. At least, in Michael's mind. And generally, Michael's opinions about Lee were correct, moreso than anything else.

"Whatever. I don't want to think about this right now," said Lee, ending the conversation. Michael nodded in agreement.

"Let's go back then. And no word to James.

"Yeah, I got it," said Lee as he headed back to his seat. That was it. Lee was absolutely sure now. _I gave him a way out and he took it. _

The game had developed to the point that Andrew could no longer stop himself from taking pieces. The slaughter ended just as quickly as it had started, ending with Andrew's bishop taking James's pawn.

"Check."

James moved his king instinctively to the left, away from Andrew's bishop. But this was what Andrew had been waiting for. He moved his knight and checked the king again, this time with his queen. James moved the only way he could, which was up towards the middle of the field.

At this point, Andrew had complete control of James's king. His royals had been developed completely and he could put the king in check whenever he pleased. What mattered now was positioning his pieces so that James would stay on the defensive.

"James is being played," murmured Lee.

"Even though he said himself that he's not the best, Andrew is at this level..."

"There's no way...no way we can win like this," said Lee with clenched fists. Even he could tell that James had no idea on what he was doing. He moved his pieces at a whim, just putting them wherever he spotted a free spot. The rest was done to run away. He had no concept of offense or defense. Everything was predictable at this point.

Andrew moved his knight forward. He had expected James to be terrible, but he had partially believed in Michael's statements about Starcraft. However, he saw nothing in James's play that spoke of ingenuity. Where was the spark...?

_Four moves to checkmate_, thought Andrew. Even though he usually couldn't read too far in a match, but against a beginner, it was almost like breathing. All the buttons were laid out for him.

Is this all, James? Is this all the potential you have in you?

Andrew closed his eyes and waited the inevitable end. _He'll take my queen...then that'll allow me to start demolishing his defenses. He'll think he's winning and get overconfident, start trying to attack my king, but I'll have him in checkmate before that._

One second passed. Five seconds. Ten.

There was silence in the library.

_Silence?_

Andrew lifted his head and saw that James had not moved yet. One finger rested on his remaining bishop, clearly ready to race across the board and take the queen. _So why? Why hasn't he taken it?_

"Why won't he take the queen?" whispered Lee, struggling to hold back his impatience. "It's the only good move he'll make in the game. If he takes that, he'll be in position to check the king. He can regain control of the board."

"Yes...that'd be a solid move..." murmured Michael. He put a hand to his chin and observed the board. Why wasn't James taking it? Was he too afraid to attack? Was he second-guessing himself? Michael had seen that trait dominate James in scrimmage matches. It happened when Lee felt generous and allowed James to build up his forces. But James never attacked in time. He was always massing and then not doing anything. He would move his forces upwards, then retreat. Then he would build new units.

Michael understood. James didn't want to attack unless he had full confidence in his army. But the thing was, James could not afford the time. He was lousy at economy and lousy at teching, so all he could do as a noob was rush. It was this same trait that he needed to show in chess. Rather than running and trying to find a nonexistant pathway, he had to take the initiative. Keep his opponent off balance, even if it meant getting into a stalemate.

_Take it James. Take it!_

But James did not take it. He sat there, staring at the board intensely. Where was he looking? Not at the queen. No, he was looking at the bishop. Why? Did he think the bishop would be killed? There was no way. It was a clear path right to Andrew's king.

_A clear path..._

It was then, Michael realized it. _Something's wrong...Andrew might not be a great player, but he's good enough at defense. Why would he leave his queen vulnerable without a trade-off? There's only one reason. To get the bishop out of the way._

But why? Why would having the bishop gone change the situation of the board? What was Andrew planning?

_I can't take it._

_Why? Why can't I take it?_ thought James, his hand trembling. It was clear. The queen was open. There was nothing to counter against his bishop. So why? Why? Why wouldn't his hand move? Why did his skin prickle? Why was his mind screaming at him, keeping his nerves frozen?

_Dangerous. It's dangerous_, thought James, staring at his bishop. _This space...this space..._

Sweat dripped from his forehead. His eyes began to sting and his trembling became more violent. He had to move it. He had to. Why wouldn't he move it? What could he do besides this?

_Take it James. TAKE IT! THIS IS YOUR ONLY CHANCE!_

James clenched his teeth and let go of the bishop. He hesitated for a second, then moved his king forward to defend his bishop.

"This is..." whispered Andrew silently. _He evaded my maneuver?_

Michael saw the move. His hand moved to his mouth as a shiver ran through his body. _James saw this? He saw this coming?_

"Stupid! Idiot, now he's going to put you in check!" hissed Lee.

_No. That's what James wants. Andrew can check him, but he won't be able to take the bishop anymore. And when he finally does take it, it won't matter. James will have time to move his pieces to disrupt Andrew's plan._

Andrew stared at the board. _In one move, he brought the checkmate from four moves to eight. I can still checkmate him if he acts like normal after this, but he has ways out now._

_How did he know this? He can't have read that far into the game. It's impossible. He would've played much better._

_Was it instinct? Did he somehow realize there was danger in moving his bishop? And the king...how did he know to defend that way? That's looking ahead two moves. Was that instinctive too?_

Andrew smiled and moved his next piece. _I underestimated you. And you became a fearful person._

_I understand now._

* * *

The match ended quickly after that. The minute flash of brilliance James had shown proved to be a one-time happening. The endgame had returned to Andrew pushing buttons and James responding like a programmed computer. Lee was in despair by the end of it.

"Thanks for your time," said Michael as they got ready to leave.

"No, it was my pleasure," said Andrew, shaking Michael's hand.

"Let's get out of here already," said Lee, stretching his arms. He looked over at James, who seemed exhausted from the match. "So, how was it?"

"Completely different from Starcraft," said James, smiling weakly.

"Well, you don't have the basics down yet. We'll work on that," said Lee in as encouraging a manner as possible. James brightened a little at this, but Lee did not. James would improve. But he wouldn't be able to improve enough.

"You coming Michael?"

"Go on without me. I'll catch up after I talk to Andrew for a bit."

"Trying to lessen our sentence, eh?" said Lee, walking towards the exit. "Let's go James."

"Ah, wait up Lee!"

Michael watched as the two exited the library. The glances from the other club members vanished and soon, all was quiet again, aside from the clacking chess pieces.

"Well? How was he?"

"I'm sure you saw it. That astonishing move."

"Yes. I saw it, although maybe a little late," said Michael.

"It was surprising, to say the least. I can tell that you didn't expect it either. It's the kind of move that I would never expect from a first-timer. In fact, even if he had played before, it's still quite an advanced move at that level," said Andrew, clearing the chess board. "What I don't understand is how? Since he's never played chess, I'm going to assume he's never seen this sort of situation before."

"He probably hasn't. What did you think it was, then?"

"Instinct," said Andrew immediately.

"You too?"

"Did you know about this?"

"I've seen it before, if that's what you mean," said Michael, sitting down. "During his first Starcraft match."

"What happened?" asked Andrew as he put the board away.

"I had just taught him the basics of Starcraft. How to establish an economy. How to tech up. Get units. Some small unit specifications. Of course, when we started, he was horrible. It took him an hour to get his base set up, and even after that, longer to get units."

"I see..."

"Sorry if I'm being a little vague. I guess I'll get to the point. In Starcraft, James's first race was Protoss. It's an easier race for noobs, because you can just make an army and then overpower your opponent. Anyways, the interesting thing happened when I began harassing James's army."

"He countered?"

"No. His army was destroyed. But he slowed me down."

"How?"

"By spreading out his units. You see, I used a pack of mutalisks, which are long-ranged flying units, to attack his land units. The mutalisk attack does splash damage, meaning it hits multiple units at once. But I never told James this."

"What does spreading his units out do?"asked Andrew.

"If his units are spread out, the splash damage is less effective. The mutalisk is not that strong with one attack. Splash damage is what wears down the armies."

"And James knew this instinctively?"

"I don't know if it was instinctive or if he gleamed it from the battle. I asked him after the match about it."

"And he said?"

"'I just didn't think it was a good idea to have all my units clumped up together'. Maybe you don't understand how crucial this is in Starcraft. Since the units have a specific attacking range, by being closer together, you generally allow more attacks to hit the enemy. It goes against common sense to spread out your army when attacking if you're not aware of the splash damage factor."

"Is it just a tendency of his? Or is he really seeing the danger?"

"I've come to notice that James is very average in terms of thinking and retaining information. He's not very creative either. But...sometimes..."

"He shows a talent for assessing the situation."

"That's right. Maybe it's an unconscious thing, but James sometimes realizes there's danger even though there's no obvious sign of it. He processes things somewhere in the his head and it comes out eerily right."

"What about advantages? Has he pressed any unique situations in his favor?"asked Andrew.

"Hmmm...that's the problem there. He may or may not know when things are going well for him. But he has a meek nature."

"I noticed. He tends to retreat and second-guess himself instead of attacking."

"That's right. Your analysis is spot-on," said Michael, fairly impressed.

"Well, it's part of my job."

"You understand that the real problem starts from here," said Michael, tapping the table with his finger.

"And what's the real problem?"

"James doesn't have a handle of chess. He seems to be struggling to find a connection with chess and Starcraft, so he forgoes it. All that's left then is just his meek nature and miraculous analysis of his situation."

"He hasn't mastered the rules and he doesn't understand the basic movements completely."

"Of course he does. Subconsciously, at least. How else do you think he'd be able to assess that well?"

"I thought you said he was average at retaining information."

"Consciously," said Michael, grinning. "It's because of his timid nature. He will second-guess what he remembers. But it is usually correct."

"So then, how can he improve?"

"I've left that job to another person," said Michael. "But it may take a while. All you're really doing is giving James experience to add to his unconscious assessing skills and letting him tie up some loose strands about the basics."

"I hope you're not leaving this all to chance."

"I'm not. If I was that lucky, the Student Council wouldn't be on my back."

"You're an interesting person, Michael," said Andrew.

"Just between us two interesting people, how do you think his chances will fare?"

"With what I'm seeing right now, there is no chance. But, taking into account your promises, maybe fifteen percent."

"I'll take that bet," said Michael, dropping the king hidden between his hands. "Because while we both know what matters, I'm the one who's taking advantage of it right now."

* * *

**[STRATEGY: End]**


	4. Training

**[TRAINING]**

**

* * *

  
**

"Alright, let's go another round."

"Give us a break, Michael," groaned Lee, flopping his head on the desk.

"I wish I could, but it's been four days and James hasn't improved at all," said Michael, setting up the chessboard.

"So? We already knew this was a long shot. Besides, why am I being taught with him?"

"For the same reason you play Starcraft with him. I need to have complete concentration to analyze James's weaknesses and habits. Also, it'll be better if James plays against someone closer to his level."

"Look, I hate chess and I can beat him. This is hopeless."

"Lee!"

"I'm so tired..." said James, rubbing his face against his arms.

"No kidding," said Lee wearily.

The week had followed a laborious, repetitive pattern. Every day, Andrew started by giving James a series of lectures on various chess techniques and strategies. However, in practice, these proved useless as James continued to move his pieces in fruitless, weak maneuvers. Lee and Michael finally decided that Andrew was too skillful for James at the moment. So, with a few quick games, it had been decided that Lee would be James's sparring partner. While Lee despised the game, he proved to be well-grounded in basic play, showing a knack at reading ahead.

"I think it'd be better if you used Lee as your representative instead of James," said Andrew one day.

"We've already talked about this," replied Michael.

"I know we have. And I still don't understand. Lee also plays Starcraft, doesn't he? Even if James would provide more impact to the Student Council because of his relatively new status, there's no point if James isn't able to win."

"That's not the only reason. Lee has a vital flaw that James doesn't have."

"And that is?"

"He truly hates the game. I don't want to force him to play with our club on his shoulders. It's detrimental to both of us."

"That's not enough. You're holding something back, Michael," said Andrew.

"So what? I have my own reasons, Andrew. You should trust me."

"How can I trust you when I don't understand what you want to accomplish?"

"You understand what I want Andrew. I want the club to be officially formed. What you're not understanding is how I'm going about it. And that's fine with me."

"Michael...you..."

"There's still a week and a half left, Andrew. Time hasn't given up on us yet."

That conversation had been two days ago. But even with the voice of confidence, Andrew couldn't understand. What did Michael see that he didn't? James had made no progress. In fact, Andrew was certain that James was getting worse. The lectures on strategy had long been dropped. What Andrew concentrated on now was having James spot potential attacks and dangers. The stroke of brilliance James had shown in the first match did not reappear throughout the week. James continually fell into the most conspicuous traps with ease.

Lee finished moving his knight with a sharp clack. James was about to move a piece, but then noticed Lee's relaxed expression.

"Say it," said Michael.

"Ugh. _Checkmate_," spat Lee, looking as if he ate something bitter. "I hate saying that. Such a cliched nerd word."

"Ah. I lost again," said James mournfully.

"Alright, let's go over your mistakes, James," said Michael, sitting down. James assented reluctantly with a sigh.

It was another scene that had become all too common. Even though Andrew was supposed to be teaching James, Michael had a better connection and overall picture of James's thought process. However, Andrew was content with being on the sidelines.

"Here we go again," muttered Lee.

"To begin with, the knight fork is a devastating tactic. You lose either your bishop or your rook, one of your most powerful pieces, and your enemy gets no loss. You can easily break the fork by moving your bishop or using a piece to defend that particular spot."

"I'm sorry. I just don't see it in time," mumbled James.

"That's ok James. As long as you see it next time," said Michael. "Next is your opening move. A lot of times, you've moved the wrong pawn up and fallen into the Fool's Checkmate. Andrew has already told you that a good opening move is the Queen's Gambit. It develops your pawns while also opening up for your bishop and queen."

"I'll try it next time."

"Next time, next time. You're not going to get anywhere if it's always next time, James,"

"Lee!"

"What? I'm just trying to help."

"Anyways, James. What you need to be most aware of is your position. With one move, your opponent can open up several different ways of attacking you. You need watch for these attacks and defend accordingly against them, or push for a dominant exchange."

Basically, reading ahead. That was what James couldn't do. Or rather, he could do it, but his second-guessing nature prevented him from making use of it. In fact, Lee could tell that James saw the danger. He would hesitate every so often, usually at a crucial point in the game. But James never followed up on it.

"I have a request I'd like to make, Michael," said Andrew suddenly.

"Oh? What is it, Andrew?"

"I think part of the reason why James isn't understanding the game is its difference from Starcraft. I'd like to see a match so I can see just how different the two games are. This way, I should be able to better plan James's education."

"That's a good idea," said Michael after a moment. "Alright. Lee, let's go."

"Are you serious?" sai d Lee, perking up.

"I made a mistake. We need to get Andrew to see the play styles James has been brought up on. Us playing a game should give him a good idea of what Starcraft's all about."

"Alright! Game time!" cheered Lee.

"Of course, James is playing too," said Michael.

"Finally. I get to own James at something good."

"Hey!"

"One question though," said Andrew. "How are you going to play? If I recall correctly, you only have one laptop available."

"Only one place," said Lee, grinning widely.

"PC Bang!" exclaimed the trio.

* * *

After stopping by Michael's house momentarily for money and supplies, the group headed towards downtown. The bus was slightly crowded, but rode swiftly for a smooth fifteen minute trip. The four came out into the city during midafternoon, when people were beginning to move through the streets. Several times, James got separated from the group and a good chunk of time was wasted tracking him down. But, eventually they arrived at their destination.

"PC Bang," said Andrew, reading the neon sign.

"Actually, it's pronounced bahng," said Michael, pulling open the glass door. "Essentially, PC Bang means PC Room in Korean."

"Is this Korean-owned then?" asked Andrew.

"Bingo. PC Bangs are quite popular in Korea actually. Before this place opened up, me and Lee usually went to a nearby internet cafes."

"They're damn expensive around here though," said Lee as they entered the building.

The interior was clean and had a modern design full of geometric shapes. The soft carpet was a deep red, giving the place a sort of glamorous tone. Muted yellow lights made the PC Bang feel more like a hotel then a LAN gaming center.

"Is this it? Where are the computers?," asked Andrew, looking around at the expansive lobby. Several people were seated around tables with drinks and small platters of food, but not a single desktop was in sight.

"The PC rooms are upstairs," said Michael. "PC Bang isn't very large. There's a total of sixteen rooms I think. The number of PCs vary in each room, but some have as much as six PCs. A lot of the rooms are for individual use, though."

"I see. The lobby doubles as a cafe too?"

"That's right. They can't make enough profit off of sixteen rooms, especially since there are larger LAN centers around here. However, the low prices and interior design make this a better place to socialize."

"Oh! Michael, Lee, James!"

A tall, lanky Asian boy came out from behind the counter, dressed casually in a white long sleeve and shorts.

"Samuel! I was wondering where you were," said Lee, running forward for a high-five.

"It's been a while since you guys last came."

"A while? It's only been a week," said James.

"That's a while to me," said Samuel with a mischievous grin.

"How are you doing, Samuel?" said Michael, shaking his hand.

"Pretty good. You guys here for the usual?"

"Actually, we're going to hold a Starcraft demonstration today," said Michael, motioning at Andrew. "Andrew, this is Samuel Kim. He's a senior at our school, so you may not have met him before."

"Nice to meet you, Samuel."

"Likewise."

"Samuel's dad owns PC Bang," said Michael. "He started the business up a couple of years ago. Lee and I found out about this center after looking through the Yellow Pages for a decent place to have a LAN Party. Most of the people we invited that day don't come here anymore, but Lee and I stayed loyal customers."

"It's the food," said Lee.

"What, not my hospitality?" said Samuel, chuckling. He looked over at James and grinned. "How are you doing, newbie? Getting better at Starcraft?"

"I could probably beat you now, Samuel," said James confidently. Lee burst into uncontrollable laughter.

"Samuel is probably the best Starcraft player here," said Michael quietly to Andrew. "If that helps you get the joke."

"I see," said Andrew, smiling now.

"So all four of you guys will be playing?"

"Yes."

"Alright. You're in luck. Business is slow today so I got a six-room available," said Samuel.

"Oh? Are you going to join us?" asked Michael.

"Well, you're doing a demonstration, right? Might as well have the best," said Samuel proudly.

"I'll kick your ass," said Lee.

"Good luck," said Samuel, winking. "Ok, let's go on up."

"Hold on, Samuel, about payment–"

"Woah woah, Michael. I'm not taking your money."

"But-"

"Shut up Michael. He said we don't have to pay," said Lee, starting for the stairs.

"Lee...we can't just be misers," said Michael as he took out his wallet.

"Goddamn you."

"No really, Michael, it's ok."

"Look, Samuel, I expect to pay for my fare, even if it means trampling your courtesy."

"...Alright, I'll take it. But if you want food..."

"Michael, I'll kill you," said Lee.

"..."

"..."

"I don't think I can win that one," said Michael after a moment.

"Good. I was cooking up a snack anyways," said Samuel. "You guys head on up. I'll be right back."

"You owe me," said Lee, dropping money onto Michael's hand.

"I think you owe _me_. Fifteen-cents isn't going to cut it."

* * *

The available room looked very similar to a small office. A window with blinds on the left allowed a small portion of light to enter the room. The PCs were in the middle of the room, placed on two joined tables. Wires fell in organized strips down the small space between the tables and into the outlets below. The chairs had armrests and cushioned seats, giving the user maximum comfort. The computers themselves were decent at best with 2 gigabytes of RAM, 320 gigabytes of harddrive space, and a strong Nvidia graphics card. Not that it necessarily mattered. Starcraft's popularity was partly attributed to its minimal system requirements. With just 16mb of RAM needed to play, nearly all personal computers could handle the game.

The computers momentarily hummed as they started up. It only took a minute before the computer logged in, showing a screen cluttered with game icons. PC Bang installed a wide variety of games onto its desktops, catering to many different players' tastes. There were even some visual novels from Japan on the individual computers.

"Alright. Lee and James, get Starcraft started up for everyone and then start a match. Don't play too seriously, we need gameplay slow enough to show Andrew some of the basics."

"Roger," said Lee with a clumsy salute. Lee started the game with a few practiced mouse clicks. Instantly, the screens were filled with an image of a green-skinned woman and the words _Starcraft Brood War_.

"Most players play Brood War as opposed to the original Starcraft," said Michael as James and Lee set up the battle. "Being an expansion pack, the races are better balanced and have new units. It requires more strategy in Brood War because of that."

"I see," said Andrew as Michael logged in for him.

"We'll be observing on your computer then," said Michael as the familiar beeping signaled the countdown.

The speakers whooshed and the game began. As usual, James and Lee were both Protoss.

"First, we have James and Lee ally and share vision with us," said Michael. The moment he said this, the fog of war cleared up in both Lee and James's bases.

"Now the game begins with each player building up their economy..."

For the next twenty minutes, James and Lee slowly built their respective bases and amassed armies. Michael explained the technical terms to Andrew, who quickly picked up the game's mechanics. Soon, Andrew was as well-versed in the jargon as James himself was, which Lee was quick to point out.

"I think we picked the wrong newbie, Michael."

"I'm not that bad, Lee," said James, a bit put-off.

"I'm just joking," said Lee tonelessly.

"I can tell sarcasm when I hear it."

"No. I'm serious," said Lee, trying to keep a straight face.

"I'm back," said Samuel a few minutes later, bringing with him several plates of fresh, hot french fries. The group took a small break after the game and gorged themselves.

"Hey, I was going for that fry, you punk!"

"Ah...sorry Lee..." said James, stuffing it into his mouth. He smirked.

"You little..."

Samuel laughed as Lee got James into a stranglehold. Michael and Andrew finished up the lecture on Starcraft basics while they polished off the unnoticed fries.

It was late afternoon when the game finally began.

* * *

**[TRAINING: End]**


	5. Realization

**[REALIZATION]**

* * *

Andrew watched carefully as each screen whooshed into play. While Michael had done a fairly good job at explaining the game mechanics, Andrew still had to pick up on every little detail. Repetitive as they may be, these details would help him shape an idea of how the game worked and also let him explore the basic strategies available in Starcraft.

Both Lee and James had opted to play their best race: Protoss. In contrast, Michael and Samuel had gone Zerg and Terran respectively.

All four players started out differently. Samuel was by the far the fastest, having his SCVs out at the mineral fields instantly. He also had it arranged so that half of the SCVs were on a second mineral field, allowing for more efficient resource production.

"In Starcraft, there are two main types of maps," Michael had said earlier. "There are the default Starcraft maps, often called slow money. Then there are custom maps called Fastest. The main difference between these maps are the amount of mineral resources. In slow money, there's a very small percentage of resources in an area as compared to Fastest, which has a near infinite amount of minerals in one sitting. Because of that, slow money is generally considered to be the more difficult type of map to play. Being the default maps, they are also the ones used in official competitions. In Fastest, you are able to replenish units and tech up quickly. You also don't need to expand, meaning you only have to defend one central point."

The map they were playing today was Fastest, as James still did not have the skill to play slow money well. Andrew could see why. Michael got his drones mining in a similar fashion to Samuel, albeit with less precision and speed. Lee had been faster, but his probes were all centered on one mineral field. James, however, had started very slowly. His probes began mining nearly ten seconds after everyone else.

For the next few minutes, Andrew watched as each base began to develop. He was quite impressed to see each person's individual characteristics appear. Lee, who was rash and arrogant, quickly built up his Gateways and began amassing units. Michael, who was methodical and analytical, started by solidyfing his economy and building defenses while keeping a small force of units on the side. Samuel's laid-back personality showed through his lack of base defenses and haphazard placement of his structures. Meanwhile, James kept his buildings very close to his nexus, showing his frailty and reluctance in being offensive.

It was Samuel who first started scouting. As soon as he had marines, he sent them out to explore the terrain. No doubt all the players knew that there were only eight spawning points on the map. Samuel moved his marines to the center, spread out to cover the entire area.

Andrew instantly understood.

A few seconds later, Michael's drone glided into the middle of the map. A spray of gunfire quickly peppered its body.

It was an exceptional strategy. With this, Samuel had vision of the entire middle of the map. He could immediately kill any scouts sent near his base while also figuring out the position of his enemies. If the enemy decided to attack, Samuel would have advance notice and be able to intercept the group, if it was small enough.

Andrew saw what an advantage Samuel had at this point. His enemies would be disorientated, blind to the situation unfolding in front of them. Now would be the perfect chance...

And Samuel took it. He ignored Michael for the moment and waited patiently. A single zealot came running into the field, only to be surrounded and killed by the growing group of marines. In one smooth motion, the marines then began heading for Lee's base. The marines skirted around the gateways. Samuel was taking full advantage of the fog of war.

However, Lee was able to read the invasion. His short foray into the middle had allowed him to see the attack coming towards him. Without hesitation, Lee had his zealots gather at the top of his base.

Andrew looked back at Samuel's units. What would he do now? The zealots were protecting the economy. Samuel could not move his marines to attack. So then...

Andrew blinked. Samuel's units were no longer in Lee's base. Instead, they had began to retreat back to the middle. Andrew saw that this was a smart move. If Lee chose to attack now, he could easily be flanked in the middle. At the same time, Samuel accomplished his mission, which was to scout his opponent's base and keep his units intact. In fact, Samuel had already started sending small groups of marines into Michael's and James's bases too.

It was then that Andrew saw how remarkable Samuel was compared to the others. The marine, although it was controlled primarily by mouse clicks, was able to move flexilby and unpredictably in Samuel's hands. The sight of a sunken colony in Michael's base did not deter him. Rather, Samuel was able to shy around the defensive structure and start attacking at drones from an open spot. Although the creation of another sunken killed the marines, Samuel did quite a bit of damage to Michael's economy. It would be hard for him to catch back up.

At the same time, Samuel had also decimated a good chunk of James's units by expertly controlling his marines. Using several individual marines, he led the zealots on random goose chases. The main force simply stood there and fired at will.

Fortunately, James figured the tactic out after a few mishaps and was able to effectively counter Samuel's invasion. Samuel was pushed back to the middle.

What was the point of all this? Of course, the respective bases were hindered from quick development, but Samuel had also instigated all three of his enemies. They would all be aiming to kill him now, for revenge.

But then, Andrew understood. It was like luring your enemy's pawns. If their structure was disorganized and too crowded, none of the royals would be able to attack. They would only be hindered by the pawns. What Samuel was aiming for was for all three of his opponents to attack at once, so that they'd run into one another and fall into conflict, while he picked them off one by one.

The control of the middle proved to be dangerous. Neither side could scout properly without revealing just how much development had come to their base (from their units and technological upgrades). To go out too strong would be declaring themselves ready for attack. But without a proper evaluation of their respective opponents, there was a sense of paranoia and edge clouding their minds.

_Shit. Samuel's blocking again,_ thought Lee as he tried to move his zealot out of range. However, Samuel did not miss a single thing. The zealot's upgraded speed was no match for the stimmed marines. In exchange for health, the marines fired at double the rate and moved abnormally quick.

Michael had already noticed Samuel's strategy. It was one geared towards Protoss, as Terran would have Comsats to reveal areas and the Zerg could fly over terrain with their Overlords. Protoss were generally steamrollers, as their units were powerful with good special abilities. However, a good flank would wipe them out in minutes. And Protoss units were too expensive to replenish as quickly as other races'. Being unable to scout was a terrible handicap.

Michael built up his base, focusing on creating a large number of hatcheries. Both James and Lee would be frustrated by Samuel's move. They would also be too cautious, especially James. Neither would attack until they could scout, which meant teching to observers. Michael planned to destroy their bases before that happened.

With his Overlords upgraded in speed, Michael could now move all over the map. He traveled to Samuel's base first and was not surprised to find turrets ready to deter. He retreated before his Overlord was killed then went around the base. However, Samuel kept a close eye on the Overlord. He circled his base with a pair of Goliaths. Michael merely saw the fringes of his base.

_He's still as good as ever,_ thought Michael. He couldn't defeat Samuel alone. What he needed to do was wait and bide his time. So Michael switched to building defenses around his base. If he was passive, then one of the others would attack Samuel, just as he expected them to. But even Samuel wouldn't come out of two barrages unscathed. That was when Michael would make his move.

James was trying to tech quickly. Every minute that ticked by made more of his hairs stand up. Something was definitely wrong. Samuel was a good player. So why was he taking so long to attack? Even if he was being conservative with his units, why keep up a charade in the middle? From the small amount of scouting he was allowed to do, James saw that Samuel wasn't planning in sieging from the middle. What on earth was he waiting for?

Lee was the first to find out.

Lee decided that he'd attack Samuel with his full forces. His economy had reached a decent level. If his entire army was destroyed, screw it. He could rebuild. Plus, he'd make a dent in Samuel's army too. It was a fair trade.

He sent the zealots first into the middle. He might as well test the waters. _I'll break this bastard's wall_, thought Lee as he began producing more troops.

But suddenly, a wave of zealot cries hit his ears. Lee's eyes widened. His forces had vanished.

_What the fuck just happened?!_

Something flickered on the edge of his vision. Lee panned the screen but saw nothing. What was it? How did Samuel do it? Or had it been Michael? A good number of well-placed lurkers might have caused the damage. However, the Lurkers couldn't have gotten that close without him noticing. So then was it James? No. The only thing that could've done that kind of damage for Protoss would be Reavers. However, Reavers would still be on his screen, as they were too slow to escape his vision. So what was it then? What was happening?

Lee gritted his teeth and began making observers. There was no choice but to do this. He couldn't send out another army. It would be a stupid move. He had to find out what exactly killed his units. As the observers were being built, Lee put up the upgrade for observer speed. He needed to scout as fast as he could. Wasting time right now was not a good idea.

The observer appeared with a little series of beeps. Lee moved it towards the front of his base. There was nothing in his choke. So then, what was it? He traveled slight further into the middle. However, a turret began shooting at the observer. _Fucking Samuel! So it was you. Don't tell me.._

Blood drained from his face as the observer veered to the left of Lee's base.

A dozen seige tanks appeared on the screen.

_That bastard!_

He had taken advantage of the terrain! The chokes in this Fastest map were positioned so that siege tanks could attack from an expansion with the right amount of vision. Lee moved his observer to his right.

His hunch was correct. Samuel had positioned tanks on his right flank also. A science vessel was floating on the boundaries of the fog of war, giving him just enough sight to see the choke properly. Lee cursed and sent a high templar to storm it away. However, the high templar was killed by a shot from the tanks. _The range stretches that far?!_

The control of the middle had allowed Samuel to move into the expansions unscatched. In fact, he had already started to build two new bases near his tanks, no doubt to provide extra protection. There were no more marines in the middle, just turrets stationed in the four cardinal directions. Because of the turrets' presence, all the other players expected that Samuel was still holding the middle. However, his marines were now protecting his tanks, but at a distance far away to not be sighted by a casual sweep with detectors.

Andrew watched the battle in amazement. It was like surrounding a queen. The queen was safe at the moment, but any movement would cause it to be taken instantly. Even with its versatility and its powerful strength, there was nothing the queen could do. The other pieces that might help were too far away to do anything. Likewise, Lee had not teched at all into the air units.

Andrew held a hand to his mouth. Suddenly, everything connected. It was like noticing a checkmate. Everything changed. He could see every single move, every single motive, and every single play that had been going on until now.

_So, this is your game Michael. It's hard to believe I didn't see it before, but it's quite simple, isn't it? Now, you're just waiting for them to figure it out..._

Andrew's smile quickly vanished as he watched the screen. Samuel's play had shown just how unprepared James was, even in Starcraft. Whether or not Michael's plan worked was not the problem. It was whether or not James could live up to Michael's trust in him.

_Michael..._

What was Michael doing?

Just then, Samuel felt a tingle go down his back.

"Our base is under attack."

* * *

The day ended with stripes of orange branding the humming computers.

"...Damn it," groaned Lee, slumped into his chair.

"I didn't even get out of my base," said James with his head down on the table.

"Thanks for letting us use the computers, Samuel," said Michael.

"No problem. It's been a while since I played Starcraft," said Samuel, laughing. Andrew gave a feeble smile. _What kind of monster was he before?_

The match had ended with both James and Lee being seiged for the entire latter half of the game. Michael had disrupted Samuel's plans with a quick Guardian attack and a Lurker drop. The Guardians had rampaged in Samuel's base. It was only a momentary setback, however. Mouse and keyboard clicks had exploded from Samuel's station as he implemented some incredible micromanagement. Samuel had moved away his Goliaths so that the Guardians would target the turrets first. Then, with an accurate eye, he had selected just enough Goliaths needed to kill one guardian. These groups had been split off into hotkeys, allowing Samuel to kill multiple Guardians in the blink of an eye. The turrets had been destroyed, but Michael's army had been decimated in the process.

Michael had taken advantage of the skirmish to push his Overlords into the base. While the Guardians distracted the turrets and the Goliaths, Michael had dropped several Lurkers into Samuel's base. These were supposed to counter the Goliaths. Unfortunately, Samuel had expected this and had deployed several stimmed firebats into the area. The Lurkers died the moment they appeared in the base.

Any other maneuver that Michael might have been planning was halted as Samuel began to attack with a horde of Battlecruisers that he had built in his expansion. A few Irradiated Science Vessels disposed of a great number of Michael's reserve units. Unexpectedly, it was Michael who was the first to die.

Lee had tried to break out of the Siege Tank hold by teching air units. He hastily employed the Corsairs' Disruption Webs to freeze the tanks, then destroyed them with several well-aimed Psionic Storms. With the way open now, Lee sent his army rampaging towards the middle. The turrets were destroyed along with Lee's fear. Only a reckless drive for revenge was left.

It might have seemed a favorable position for Lee to attack, as many of Samuel's units had been destroyed by Michael. His original army size had been reduced by half, if you accounted the tanks that were incapitated. But this was what Samuel had been waiting for. In his other expansion, Samuel had built several dropships and a short army of firebats. As soon as he saw Lee attacking the middle, Samuel sent the dropships into Lee's base. Lee had sacrificed additional cannon defenses in order to build the Stargates necessary for Corsairs. Even so, a few cannons could easily dispatch the dropships. So Samuel had also created decoy dropships, which he sent in first to draw the cannon fire. The real dropships quickly released the firebats right next to Lee's probes. Splash damage took care of the rest.

In the middle, Samuel had withdrawn his Battlecruisers to attack from behind Lee's units while his Goliaths attacked from the front. Surrounding the dragoons caused disorder and none of the dragoons focused their fire enough to deal any real damage. Because of that, the zealots were unable to push their attack forward and were overwhelmed by the long range of the Goliaths. With no army and no economy, Lee had had no choice but to watch as Samuel mowed through his base.

James, who hadn't even thought of teching to air, was left secluded in his base by the Siege Tanks until Samuel came to finish him off.

"You guys are still noobies," said Samuel, ruffling both James's and Lee's hairs. "But I can tell you improved."

"You've got some nerve, Samuel," Lee said, gnashing at his hand. "Who do you think I am?"

"An underclassman."

"..."

"And a noob."

"Shut up!"

Everyone laughed as Lee snarled in mock-anger. Although the game had been widely one-sided, it had been a fun game. Especially for James and Lee, who had both been playing chess for a good part of the week. To them, just having the chance to play Starcraft in a group like this was the best fun they could have. There were no regrets.

"Well, it's getting late. I guess we should start heading back," said Michael.

"Yeah. It's almost night. If you guys hurry, you can catch the next bus."

"Let's go Lee," said James as the group headed out the door.

"Fhold on," mumbled Lee as he stuffed soggy fries into his mouth. After a moment's thought, he stuffed the latter into his pockets and rushed past James.

"You're holding us up, rookie!" yelled Lee from down the hall.

"I was waiting for him, though..." thought James as he raced after everyone else.

* * *

Lee bent over the bus stop, white puffs issuing from his mouth like steam from a kettle. Sweat beaded his colored cheeks as the bus drove away in a cloud of smoke.

"We were really lucky," said James, sighing in relief.

"Samuel, that son of a bitch," said Lee, breathing heavily. "How the hell were we _early_..."

"It was a good thing the bus was late," commented Michael, wiping sweat from his eyes.

"Late my ass...that thing was on a different schedule..."

"Haha..."

"Well, I guess we should all go home," said Michael, straightening up after catching his breath.

"Yeah. I need to crash," said Lee, rubbing his arms. "Damn, it's cold. Let's go rookie."

"Ah, hold on," said James, stumbling over his shoelace.

"Jeez. You're a pain in the ass..."

"Ha. So, Andrew, you're heading this way too, right?" asked Michael.

"Yes, I am. But, go ahead of me. I need to talk to Lee for a minute."

Michael stared at Andrew for a moment then shrugged and started off. Andrew waited until Michael was a good distance away before running towards Lee.

"Lee! Lee!"

"It's Andrew," said James, turning back.

"What the hell do you want?" asked Lee, yawning.

"I need to talk to you for a minute," said Andrew as soon as he caught up.

"Me? About what?"

"Well..." said Andrew, his eyes lingering on James. Lee glanced to the side, then cleared his throat.

"Hey, James. Go ahead of me."

"What?"

"Me and the President here need to talk about some important stuff," said Lee, giving James a little kick. "So get going."

"Uh...ok..."

"You better get home straight. If I see your dead ass on the newspaper tomorrow, then I'll piss on your grave!" shouted Lee as James trotted away. Lee waited until James was out of earshot before turning back to Andrew.

"So, is this about James?"

"Partly. You do know that there's not much time left before the chess match."

"Yeah. And he's gotten worse, hasn't he?"

"You could say that."

"So how can we fix it?"

"Quite easily. In fact. this brings me to the main topic."

"Which is?"

"I have a favor to ask you. Tonight, when you get home, please play some Starcraft."

"What?" said Lee, bewildered.

"Play some Starcraft. Perhaps the Battlenet that I've been hearing about would be good."

"What the hell? I thought this was about James"

"Well...you'll see when you play. Will you do it?"

"...I guess. It's not like I'm going to do anything else tonight," said Lee, scratching the back of his head. "But you know, I don't like playing the guys on Battlenet. Too many noobs pissing me off. It's a pain."

"Just play once, at least," said Andrew.

"But wh-"

"You'll understand," said Andrew as he started towards the opposite direction. "Remember, the chess match is very close. James needs all the help he can get."

"I don't get i-"

"Goodbye! See you tomorrow!" said Andrew, running off. Lee stood there, confused.

"Tch. Whatever," said Lee. He sighed and began walking towards his own house.

"Damn, it's cold."

* * *

Andrew had only been running for a little while when he saw Michael waiting for him under a streetlight.

"So, you figured it out?" asked Michael.

"You could say that," said Andrew with a smile.

"Well, I guess it's not surprising," said Michael, breathing out a stream of white fog.

"If you're worried about whether or not I told Lee anything important, please put it out of your mind."

"I know. I'm not worried about that."

"Then, what are you worried about?"

"The same thing you're worrying about," said Michael, chuckling.

"Haha. I guess that's right."

"It seems like I'm involving you too much into our affairs," said Michael.

"Maybe. But I don't mind. Seeing those two, I can understand where you're coming from," said Andrew, looking down the dark street.

"Was seeing Starcraft today enjoyable?"

"It was very fun," said Andrew, closing his eyes. "But I guess, anything is fun when you do it with others."

Andrew locked eyes with Michael. Michael grinned and stepped out of the light.

"It's time for you to head home. Get some good sleep, Andrew."

"You too, Michael."

* * *

**[REALIZATION: End]**

* * *

A/N: sorry for the late entry. I wrote this chapter a little more reluctantly than usual. It's probably because we're nearing the end of the arc and I'm too excited about the new ones to really want to write the in-betweens. however, I hope you enjoy the conclusion as it comes up.


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